Pew Center for Arts and Heritage

Get our monthly newsletter in your inbox for the latest on cultural events, ideas, conversations, and grantmaking news in Philadelphia and beyond.

Main page contents

William Edmondson: A Monumental Vision

The Barnes Foundation
An exhibition of carved stone sculptures on salmon pink pedestals. Painted on the wall in dark green is the exhibition title: "William Edmondson: A Monumental Vision."
William Edmonson: A Monumental Vision installation view, 2023, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA. Photo by Alexander Rotondo, courtesy of the Barnes Foundation.
Brendan Fernandes, Returning to Before, 2023, site-specific work performed in relationship to William Edmonson: A Monumental Vision, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA. Photo by Daniel Jackson.
Brendan Fernandes, Returning to Before, 2023, site-specific work performed in relationship to William Edmonson: A Monumental Vision, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA. Photo by Daniel Jackson.
William Edmondson, Bess and Joe, 1930-1940, limestone, collection of Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art, Nashville, TN. Gift of Salvatore J. Formosa Sr.; Mrs. Pete Formosa Sr.; Angelo M. Formosa, Jr.; and Mrs. Rose M. Formosa Bromley in memory of Angelo Formosa, Sr., wife Mrs. Katherine St. Charles Formosa; and Pete A. Formosa, Sr. and Museum Purchase through the bequest of Anita Bevill McMichael Stallworth. Photo by Eric Wheeler.
William Edmondson, Bess and Joe, 1930-1940, limestone, collection of Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art, Nashville, TN. Gift of Salvatore J. Formosa Sr.; Mrs. Pete Formosa Sr.; Angelo M. Formosa, Jr.; and Mrs. Rose M. Formosa Bromley in memory of Angelo Formosa, Sr., wife Mrs. Katherine St. Charles Formosa; and Pete A. Formosa, Sr. and Museum Purchase through the bequest of Anita Bevill McMichael Stallworth. Photo by Eric Wheeler.
Brendan Fernandes, Returning to Before, 2023, site-specific work performed in relationship to William Edmonson: A Monumental Vision, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA. Photo by Daniel Jackson.
Brendan Fernandes, Returning to Before, 2023, site-specific work performed in relationship to William Edmonson: A Monumental Vision, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA. Photo by Daniel Jackson.

An exhibition and newly commissioned performance recontextualize the life and work of Black American sculptor William Edmondson (1874–1951), repositioning his artistic practice within the early 20th-century art world. Edmondson was the first Black artist to have a solo exhibition at MoMA, but the self-taught artist is typically presented in an “outsider art” context. Curators and scholars add nuance and context to the artist’s legacy, motivations, and relationship with the art world. A new performance created by Brendan Fernandes, a Chicago-based artist working at the intersection of dance and visual art, responds to Edmondson’s work and themes of cultural displacement and identity. A catalogue with scholarly essays accompanies the exhibition.

The total grant amount represents project funding plus an additional 20% in unrestricted general operating support.

uestions of ractice
Recipient
The Barnes Foundation

The Barnes Foundation

The Barnes Foundation was established by Albert C. Barnes in 1922 to "promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts and horticulture." The Barnes holds one of the premier collections of post-impressionist and early modern paintings, featuring works by Renoir, Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, and Modigliani; American masters such as Demuth, Glackens, Pippin, and Prendergast; alongside old master paintings; African sculpture; American paintings and decorative arts; antiquities from the Mediterranean region and Asia; and Native American ceramics, jewelry, and textiles.

More info
News

$9.5 Million From The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage to Support 30 Philadelphia Organizations and 12 Artist Fellowships

Sep 19, 2022
Explore Connections
Maria Hassabi: PLASTIC (2015-16), Installation view, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, January 31–March 1, 2015. Courtesy the artist; Koenig & Clinton, New York; The Breeder, Athens. Photo credit, Thomas Poravas.
Questions of Practice: Choreographer Maria Hassabi on Dancing in Museum Spaces
Video Site-Specific Performance
Suzanne Valadon, Nude Sitting on a Sofa, 1916, oil on canvas, 32” x 23”. Courtesy of the Weisman & Michel Collection, © 2021 Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Suzanne Valadon: Model, Painter, Rebel
Project Grant Exhibitions & Public Interpretation
Rapper Chill Moody performs with The Philadelphia Orchestra for Darin Atwater’s Black Metropolis.
Black Metropolis: Improvisations on Paint Factory
Project Grant Performance
Tracie Morris. Courtesy Vermont Studio Center.
Questions of Practice: Poet and Performer Tracie Morris on Preserving a “Feeling of Liveness” in a Museum Setting
Video Site-Specific Performance
Joiri Minaya, Container #4, 2020, 60" x 40". Photo courtesy of the artist.
Joiri Minaya: Venus Flytrap
Project Grant Performance
WXPN’s Black Opry Residency Showcase featuring (l to r) Grace Givertz, Denitia, Kentucky Gentlemen’s Brandon and Derek Campbell, Tylar Bryant, and Samantha Rise. Photo by Senia Lopez for WXPN.
Black Opry Residency
Project Grant Performance
James Maurelle, 2022 Pew Fellow. Photo by Neal Santos.
James Maurelle
Pew Fellow Visual Art
Community workshop with Boris Charmatz at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Photo by JJ Tiziou.
The Paradox of Dancing in a Museum
Essay Site-Specific Performance